Twilight Garden Tour - August 21, 2025

​UW Spooner Ag Research Station hosts Twilight Garden Tour Aug. 21

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Spooner Agricultural Research Station will host its Twilight Garden Tour on Thursday, August 21, from 4:00 p.m. to dusk. The 383-acre station, established in 1909, is ideally situated to assess and study agricultural challenges posed by the unique conditions of northern Wisconsin.

To be held at the station’s teaching and display garden, located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner, the evening will include displays, speakers, demonstrations and guided tours of the garden plots. This year, additional guided tours of hazelnut, table grapes and honey berry research projects will also be provided.
Staff from the station, Extension educators, volunteers and the event speakers will be available to answer gardening questions and identify plant, insect and disease samples. Attendees are welcome to explore the gardens and bring samples of diseased plants or representative photos for identification and advice.

Invited speakers from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and UW–Madison Division of Extension (Extension) are:
• Julie Dawson, associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, discussing the Seed to Kitchen organic variety trials
• Steffen Mirsky, emerging crops outreach program coordinator in Extension's Agriculture Institute, sharing insights on the crops his team is studying
• PJ Liesch, entomologist with the CALS Department of Entomology and Extension's Agriculture Institute and director of the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab, talking about the insect pests to watch for in 2025

The teaching and display garden is an official All-America Selections (AAS) display garden featuring grapes, flowers and vegetables and has been awarded multiple awards in the National Landscape Design contest sponsored by AAS. The station hosts research on a variety of short-season and other crops, including oats, barley, winter wheat, alfalfa, forage grasses, hazelnuts, corn and soybeans.

The station will make a reasonable effort to provide disability accommodations for field day participants when notified in advance. To request a disability accommodation, please contact [email protected] at least 10 days in advance of the event. Efforts will be made to meet same-day requests to the extent possible.

There is no charge for this educational event. The station is located at W6646 Hwy 70, Spooner, Wisconsin. For questions, contact [email protected]. Visit www.facebook.com/spoonerag to learn more about event status in case of weather. For more information, contact the Spooner Ag Research Station at (715) 635-3735 or learn more at https://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/.
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Spooner station is part of UW–Madison's Agricultural Research Station network, which is supported by the university and through state and federal funding. Research projects conducted at ARS network stations are funded by a variety of sources, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and private industry.